The Funeral Cryer by Wenyan Lu
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Dark, moving and wry, The Funeral Cryer is both an illuminating depiction of a 'left behind' society and proof that it's never too late to change your life.
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My blog
In my book blog, I review my favourite fiction genres: comedy, community, crime. I enjoy all three equally, but I’m always delighted when I find new books where they overlap.
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Wahala by Nikki May
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‘Wahala’ is the Yoruba word for ‘trouble’. In May’s funny and perceptive debut novel, the trouble is created by a pushy outsider who intrudes herself into the lives of a tight-knit friendship group. Ronke, Simi and Boo have been friends ever since they met at university in Bristol…
Read MoreThe Startup Wife by Tahmina Anam
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Brilliant Asha has created an algorithm that could change the nature of social media. Her charismatic husband Cyrus has the personality and charm which are essential to popularise her platform. Will their passionate marriage survive the stress of a tech startup?
Read MoreFactory Girls by Michelle Gallen
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It’s summer 1994, and three eighteen year old girls are working in a shirt factory in a country town. They’re waiting for the exam results and all they want is to earn some money while having as much fun as possible. But this is Northern Ireland, so there are obstacles to overcome before Maeve, Caroline and Aoife can head off into the big wide world.
Read MoreLove Marriage by Monica Ali
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‘They kept each other in the dark. Only when the light got in did the Ghoramis start falling apart.’ Yasmin’s attempts to cast light on her family’s secrets is touching and funny.
Read MoreLessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
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Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact, she would be the first to point out that there is no such thing. But it’s the early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute take a very unscientific view of equality.
The Lock In by Phoebe Luckhurst
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It looks as if the long-standing friendship of Ellen and Alexa is about to crumble and fall, taking with it Alexa and Ben’s promising love affair. There are lots of laughs while flatmate Jack tries to save the situation.
Read MoreImpossible by Sarah Lotz
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Bee is working all hours to build up her dressmaking business and Nick is freelancing as a literary editor. Both of them are lonely and open to a relationship, but through no fault of their own, unimaginable difficulties stand in the way of their love affair. Fortunately the nature of their problem allows plenty of scope for humour.
Read MoreThe Exhibitionist by Charlotte Mendelson
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The Hanrahan clan gather to support famous artist and notorious egoist Ray, as he prepares for his first exhibition in decades. He is sure it will polish his reputation for good. But what will happen if his family make the changes necessary for their own happiness?
Read MoreThe Purgatory Poisoning by Rebecca Rogers
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When Dave wakes up in his own personal purgatory, he’s shocked to discover he’s dead. And worse – he was murdered.
Heaven doesn’t know who did it so with the help of two rogue angels, Dave must uncover the truth.
Read MoreThe Hive by Scarlett Brade
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Hell has no fury like a woman dumped on Twitter. The pain suffered by Charlotte Goodwin after her celebrity boyfriend leaves her is intense. Not only does she have to cope with being abandoned by her lover, but she is jeered at by a Twitter group called the Hive. Meanwhile her rival is praised and envied. In her debut novel Scarlett Brade takes the reader inside the head of a woman at the centre of a perfect storm of resentment and humiliation. The resulting despair and anguish finds its outlet in premeditated murder.
Read MoreVillager by Tom Cox
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Villager is a ramble through the history of a village at the foot of a tor. Hares and wild ponies, a stone circle and a church are on the map. Crows circle the crown of the hill. Mystical voices from distant eras comment on the doings of the living. At times the past of the village orbits eerily close to its present, with startling results…
Read MoreThe Golden Couple by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen
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Avery Chambers can ‘slay the demons that plague people’ - or so she claims. The Confession is the first step in her intensive short-term counselling programme. Due to her unconventional methods she has lost her licence to practice therapy…
Read MoreA Moment on the Lips by J. Taylor
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Why do people seek to limit their food intake? What is the best way to go about it? Body image is a serious issue, and eating disorders are no joke. How can a comedic author write about women who wish to lose weight without causing offence?
Read MoreYinka Where Is Your Huzband by Lizzie Damilola Blackburn
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Lizzie Damilola Blackburn has created an original and engaging personality for her main character in Yinka Where Is Your Huzband. Yinka was born in the UK to deeply religious parents of Nigerian heritage. She is committed to her Christian faith, but when her mother stops the dancing at a family party and insists in praying openly for Yinka to find a husband, it is too much to take.
Read MoreShould I Tell You by Jill Mansell
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Many thanks to Headline for sending me an advance review copy of Jill Mansell’s latest book, Should I Tell You? I knew I was going to like it as soon as I saw the intriguing map of Lanrock inside the front cover. This novel’s genre is feel-good fiction, and its theme is going home. People who have moved away from the place where they grew up often ask themselves how their lives would have turned out if they had stayed. By returning to live in Lanrock, the Cornish seaside town where they once shared loving foster parents, Amber, Lachlan and Raffaele disprove the old saying that you should never go back.
Read MoreCall of the Penguins by Hazel Prior
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Call of the Penguins has a cast of thousands, because Granny McCreedy has form in protecting the beloved birds. Her previous adventures are described in Hazel Prior’s first book, Away with the Penguins. Two years after she made a life-changing journey to rescue an endangered penguin colony, the eighty-seven year old returns to Antarctica with a film crew…
Read MoreBefore My Actual Heart Breaks by Tish Delaney
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I enjoyed Before My Actual Heart Breaks so much that I approached the author for an interview. I was thrilled when she agreed. Tish Delaney was born and brought up in Northern Ireland at the height of the Troubles. Like many people of her generation, she left the sectarian violence behind by moving to England. Her superb debut novel Before My Actual Heart Breaks explores emotional isolation and the long-lasting repercussions of trauma. Along the way there is plenty of wry Ulster humour to lighten the mood.
Read MoreI Have Something to Tell You by Susan Lewis
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‘They’re all related to each other around these parts….It’s what makes them the way they are,’ says Joe, a private investigator and lawyer Jay Wells’ father figure, in I Have Something to Tell You. The retired detective is an outsider from South Gloucestershire’s moneyed class, so he sees more of the game. At the core of this beautifully crafted novel is an intricate network of wealthy families and friends. Their charming habitat is impervious to the wickedness of the outside world – until it isn’t.
Read MoreTinker Tailor Schoolmum Spy by Faye Brann
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Licensed to kill but in thrall to the PTA, a choice between full-time home-making and a return to her former career in espionage faces Victoria Turnbull. After unwittingly passing an ‘audition’ at her friend’s paintball party, she is recalled to active service and sent on refresher courses to update her technology skills and renew her weapons licence…
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